The Logical Player said:
The Patriots did video tape other teams' signals. Video taping signals is LEGAL in general, but it is illegal to do from the sideline, so the patriots actually just broke the part of the rule in terms of the location of the video taping.
Videotaping signals is illegal no matter where you do it. Stealing signals with other methods (like lip reading) is legal. So the Patriots did break a huge rule. It's pointless to argue about spygate though because nobody knows how the games would have turned out had the Patriots not videotaped signals.
Spygate was swept under the rug though, like mrRuckus said. Roger Goodell, the commissioner himself, said that any coach who has signals stolen from him is "stupid", as though he's partially blaming the other teams for having their signals illegally videotaped. If it was any other team, the media would have been ALL OVER this story forever and would never had given the Patriots a break. But because the NFL and the media is grasping at straws trying to create another "dynasty team", it was soon forgotten.
The Patriots are like the San Antonio Spurs of the NFL - a team with one superstar surrounded by a bunch of overrated mediocre players whose heads have been inflated so big by the media's constant praise. Funny how the team goes to shiit once Brady is gone despite the fact that they still have 10 billion other pro bowlers on that team. Mike Vrabel, Lawrence Maroney, Tedy Bruschi, and all those other average players are made out to be superstars just because they are on a well-coached team playing against bottom-feeding teams.
Just like with the Spurs, they are protected by the NFL because everyone wants to have another dynasty. Everyone wants there to be a team that wins every super bowl for a decade and has a roster full of hall of famers. They were already talking dynasty when they won 3 super bowls in 4 years which is a true disrespect to the true dynasties - teams who dominated on the field and didn't have to get the hype machine to make them look great. They tried to make the Patriots that team but they just aren't good enough, especially without Brady.
Their schedule is so big of a joke it's almost a conspiracy. Before last year, their division (Buffalo, Miami, NY Jets) was terrible and their inter-division games are almost always against shiitty teams. They played 10 games against teams outside of their own division, and other than Indianapolis and Pittsburgh, the only other team over .500 was Arizona (9-7) who have always been one of the worst in the league. I don't believe in conspiracies but it seems like the Patriots have everything set up to succeed.
Anyway, that turned out to be way longer than I wanted it to be. I can't stand the Patriots, but even more than that, I can't stand listening to anyone talk about them.
